When the Duke Loved Me by Lydia Lloyd

Author:Lydia Lloyd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781959988458
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2023-06-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Catherine rose and dressed, lacing her stays and stockings, and wondered where John might be in the truly gigantic Edington Hall. She resolved not to look for him when he was probably attending to Henrietta. Instead, she would reacquaint herself with the place alone.

And she would try not to think of what had happened yesterday in the carriage. Or feel too mortified. In the cold light of day, she felt exposed. She had again shown him so much of herself, of what she desired, and she could not shake the feeling that what she had revealed—what they had both revealed—had altered the shaky truce that they had found on the road.

She exited the bedchamber and walked down the grand stairs, marveling at the size and grandiosity of the place, which she remembered hazily from her childhood. A few times, she had come to Edington Hall with her aunt Mary to call on the family and had observed its grandness. She had listened to her aunt discuss issues in the parish with the duke on those occasions, the only times she had seen them in the same room together.

Forster House was older, but Edington Hall was much larger. It had made an impression on her then and she felt disloyal to her own family to admit that it still impressed her now. The wide windows looking out over the meticulous park, the expansive stone floors, and the bustling of the enormous staff, who moved about the house in the morning sun taking no notice of her, awed her. She felt a bit like an imposter, stalking around uninvited and unnoticed.

She happened upon the gallery and gazed upon the solemn faces of the former Dukes of Edington and their wives. She found the large portrait of John’s father, done when he was still young, and noted how much he looked like John, except for his dark brown eyes.

And then she looked up and saw John himself in the doorway.

“How is she?” She could hear the dread in her own voice. From this distance, his face was inscrutable.

“Henrietta is through the worst of it. Her fever broke last night. I had to force her to rest for today but she has made a remarkable recovery.”

“Thank God.”

“She’s fine.”

She looked him in the eyes. “I am very, very glad to hear it.”

He nodded grimly in acknowledgment. “We need to talk. About Henrietta. The tutoring.”

He was looking at the picture of the former duchess, his mother. She was the one who had given him his sage-green eyes, Catherine observed. She doubted the woman, who had been ruined by her husband and Mary Forster’s relationship, would approve of Catherine’s presence in her home. Catherine swallowed hard.

As if experiencing similar thoughts, John broke away from the portrait. They moved down the gallery.

“You’re going to need to give Henrietta real lessons.”

“Of course I will have to give her lessons. Surely, your sister would begin to suspect something if her tutor didn’t actually teach her anything.”

Catherine looked over to search his face.

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